CitizenCon 2953 showcased updates for Star Citizen and Squadron 42, emphasizing that Squadron 42 is now “feature complete,” allowing the team to focus on porting features to the persistent universe. While some features demonstrated are close to release, others may require more development and refinement, but progress is being made towards advancements in the game.
CitizenCon 2953 showcased the future updates for Star Citizen and gave insight into what the coming year holds for the game. The event emphasized the distinction between four categories: Star Engine, Squadron 42, Star Citizen, and Sandworm. Star Engine refers to the engine that Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are built on, showcasing its capabilities, but not necessarily indicating immediate implementation in the persistent universe. Squadron 42, which is a single-player game connected to Star Citizen, was primarily featured to demonstrate changes in systems that will eventually be incorporated into the persistent universe. The significance of Squadron 42 being “feature complete” is that it frees up the Squadron 42 team to work on the persistent universe, allowing for the porting of features from Squadron 42 to the game.
The footage shown during CitizenCon was divided between Squadron 42 and Star Citizen, each featuring different code bases and levels of optimization. The Squadron 42 gameplay footage displayed updates to the character creator, hair technology, user interface, and more. These updates will eventually be ported to the persistent universe, with the player hair update scheduled for release in Q4 of this year. However, features like the mini map, star map markers, and pathfinding, which were impressive in the Squadron 42 demo, may face challenges in smoothly integrating them into the online environment.
The Star Citizen footage showcased gameplay from the current code base in the live environment. While many of the features shown were optimized for closed internal servers, their performance in the online environment remains uncertain. Features such as player hangers, cargo elevators, resource management, and server meshing were demonstrated but will require significant development to effectively incorporate them into the game. Lastly, the concept footage or “Sandworm” represented future gameplay possibilities but is not currently being actively worked on.
Overall, Squadron 42 being feature complete is a significant milestone as it allows the team to focus more on the persistent universe. While some features demonstrated during CitizenCon are relatively close to release, others, such as server meshing, may take more time to refine. It is important for players to have realistic expectations regarding the timeline and challenges of implementing these features. Nevertheless, progress is being made, and with Squadron 42 nearing completion, advancements in the persistent universe are within reach.